When I first started reading old newspapers I was baffled by the underlined term, until I found out that it simply means “in the current month”.

There were many words used by our ancestors that are no longer in use. Some were abandoned so long ago that we don’t recognize or understand them. That might cause you to misinterpret information or overlook something important. You may also find it more difficult to use search engines if you don’t use the terms that were common for the time. When I was researching early records of Bryan county schools I soon realized that graduations were referred to as “closing exercises”, the teacher lived in a “teacherage” that was owned by the school board, the students were given awards for “deportment” (conduct), and the schools that charged tuition were “subscription” schools.

It’s also good to keep in mind that each type of record- newspaper, funeral records, court reports, Dawes, census- will have its own set of common terms. Familiarize yourself with them and it will improve your research.

Here are some examples of a few old words. If you read something you don’t understand, be sure to ask the library volunteer about it.